What About the Kids?
by DiehardJavaJunkie14
Summary: What if Luke's What About the Kids? rant in A House is not a Home went a little differently? JavaJunkie oneshot, AU.


**A/N: My (happier) take on the "What about the kids?" rant Luke had in "A House is Not a Home". Enjoy. This is dedicated to The Mrs.Ventimiglia.**

"_I mean, you're seriously considering selling the inn and taking this job. I mean, where's their office, anyway?"_

"_They've got a bunch of them. I don't know where exactly I'd be."_

"_Well, shouldn't you ask?"_

"_Hello, mulling."_

"_I mean, they could send you anywhere!"_

"_Luke!"_

"_And then there's all that travel. There's travel, right?"_

"_Yes. No, I don't know. What are you freaking out about?"_

"_Well, what about the kids?"_

Lorelai stopped in her tracks. "What… about the… kids?" she slowly repeated, completely shocked. She was stunned that the subject was brought up at all, in public, let alone so abruptly in the middle of what was shaping up to be a rather intense fight.

"Yeah, of course! The kids!" Luke said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Have you even thought about the kids?"

She sighed. "Why don't we go… in here, in my office, and talk in private?" she asked, worrying about where the conversation was headed and what state of mind they would leave each other in. "Come on."

Luke allowed Lorelai to take her hand and he followed her into the office. She looked at him, trying to sense what he was feeling. She could tell that he was visibly upset by the whole thing. They stood in silence for awhile, looking at each other. Lorelai knew that they were both frazzled by the whole situation.

"So are we going to talk about this, or are we both the second coming of silent film actors?" Lorelai teased, trying to relieve the tension they both felt.

"I really just said that out loud, didn't I?" Luke asked.

Lorelai nodded. "I think you spoke in your human pitch instead of your dog pitch, we heard you. And you said 'kids.' Plural. More than one, has an 's' on the end."

He started to pace, taking off his hat and scratching his head. He watched as Lorelai leaned up against the desk, and he walked over beside her. He leaned up against the desk and turned his head so he could see her. "So you like the 'plural' part?" he asked, softly.

She smiled. "It sounds really good, actually. I just didn't intend to talk about it right in the middle of this… fight."

"Was that a fight?" Luke asked.

"God, I don't know, Luke, I just feel bad, you know?" She looked down at her hands.

"About what?" Luke asked, putting his arm around her.

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know, about mulling," she replied.

"I overreacted. I should have known you weren't really serious about it. I just…" he sighed, not knowing exactly what to say in response to Lorelai's feelings. "I got a little worried that after I had adjusted to the idea of you and me… maybe having kids together, it would just be taken away as quickly as I had accepted the idea."

Lorelai sighed. "It's okay. I didn't mean to scare you with this. I just… since Rory was arrested, and God knows I never thought I'd say that, I can't seem to keep my head on straight, and it was nice to dream a little. I could think about something totally unrelated to my life at this moment, and bring myself out of the really stressful stretch of time I'm going through right now. That shouldn't have been the cloud my head was in, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, it's been a tough few days. I understand," Luke reassured her.

She crossed her arms, letting out a slight giggle, hoping the feud was over. "You were really against that idea, weren't you?"

"Obviously I was. Why would you let some person buy the inn you waited years to open, that you put all of that time, money, and effort into rebuilding?" Luke ranted, gesturing wildly as his rant escalated in intensity. "I know you, Lorelai, and I know that this whole 'selling the inn' thing definitely isn't what you really want. Why even bother listening to this guy?"

She grinned. "He gave me presents," she teased.

"You aren't even being serious about this!" Luke snarled, pacing.

Lorelai walked over to him and took his hand, attempting to get Luke to settle down. "Luke. You know what mulling means, and I just said I wasn't serious. Calm down. I thought we just settled this. We both apologized, chalked our overreactions up to stress. What's the problem?"

"How can I calm down? I mean, you're not even thinking about our future, here! You're just going to throw all this away for one offer?"

She stood up from the desk and walked in front of Luke. Putting a strand of hair behind her ear and taking a deep breath, she started on a rant of her own. "If I was that serious about it, Luke, we would have talked by now. Do you see me making travel plans to meet with this company? No. You don't see building inspectors here for anything other than Dragonfly Inn purposes, do you? No. Take a happy pill, okay?"

He looked down at his shoes, letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry I ranted."

She gave him a soft smile. "It's okay. You were worried, and concerned, and it's nice to know that you care. It's also nice to know a little more about this 'kids' thing."

"You think?" he asked, taking off his baseball cap and running his hands through his hair before placing it back on his head.

"I know we've talked about it… a little, but not a lot."

Luke smiled. "Well, I guess we have to start talking a little more about it, then."

Lorelai leaned in and gave Luke a kiss. "I guess we will. You know what else we need to talk about?"

"Hm?"

"Your visit with the town elders," Lorelai countered.

Luke cleared his throat. "How did you hear about that?"

"I have my ways," she said with a wink. "Seriously, what did you go to them for?"

He rolled his eyes. "Well, aren't some things better left unsaid?"

"Not if the whole freaking town knows something about my life before I do," Lorelai replied, taking Luke's hand and leading him out of her office.

"Fine. I guess that I thought we needed… you know, more room for the kids…" Luke started.

As Lorelai's confused look became more apparent, Michel came stomping by the office door, clearly upset. "Lorelai, there is a guest who says that he was never offered turn down service last night. And he has completely obliterated me," he whined.

Lorelai gave Luke a look that clearly said 'I'm sorry' and she leaned in and gave him a kiss. "We'll talk later?"

Luke sighed. "Sure. You wouldn't want Michel to be… obliterated."

She gave him a slight wave and followed Michel into the lobby.


End file.
